Agree with Zep and Pink Floyd getting strong mentions. I would love to bring up Sabbath but Ozzy honestly holds them back by always just singing the main guitar riff. My own GOAT would be Yo La Tengo or... wait for it... Spoiler The Butthole Surfers
All these Goat bands are fine I guess, critically acclaimed and what not. But, I honestly have way more fun listening to The Gap Band.
Echoes is on Meddle... Which is fabulous. Echoes has one of the most spiritually and musically influential tunes of my life. DSotM {alongside the Experience's Axis: Bold as Love} was my obsession since I was a toddler, but the last few years Animals has really hogged my Pink Floyd attention. Anyone seen the local PF tribute band Pigs on the Wall?
As far as All American rock bands, you could make a strong case for the original Allman Brothers. Imagine Dickey Betts being your second best guitarist....... I hate to use this word as it's misuse - like so many others {eg empathy, narcicist, I could go on} - is so complete that it's pretty much devoid of meaning, but Duane was an actual genius. As for the rock band that most successfully embodied the spiritual archetype of artist, it's probably Pink Floyd for me. Benevolent manipulation.
I always come back to Animals. (And I'm an apologist for The Final Cut. ) Thanks too for mentioning the Allman Bros.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience is pretty hard to top. Rythym section of Mitchell and Redding is objective truth, and the production team of Jimi and Eddie Kramer is most likely the best of all time. Also, I'm sorry, but the original Little Feat is one of the greatest bands of all time. They did such a great job of using melodic device to hide how complex and sophisticated it actually was. They NEVER showed the seam, because unlike bands like Rush whose need to make sure you knew how smart they were led to convolution, Little Feat used complexity as a subliminal tool of subconscious manipulation.
i was in their hometown of tulsa a couple weeks ago and their legacy still looms large there. i had no idea their name came from three streets in black wall street (greenwood, archer and pine).
Since some people are answering seriously... I mean, shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that knows me, but.... The Police. I'm not talking about the Every Breath You Take version, I'm talking about the young and angry, punk/reggae, play everything way too fast live version. THIS version: Rush would be a VERY close second, but I gotta go with Stingo and the boys as my GOAT.
Depends on how you define GOAT. I think you need to look at multiple things: 1. Did they consistently make great music over an extended period? 2. Could they play that great music in a way that made for great concerts? 3. Were contemporary and subsequent artists influenced by their music? 4. Did they push the genre forward in new ways? 5. Were they culturally significant beyond the music sphere? (This one deserves special weighting.) The Beatles score exceedingly high on all but maybe the concert one and culturally, there's nobody close. They are the Babe Ruth of modern music. Based on the above criteria and not looking at the early, early greats like Robert Johnson, Sister Rosetta, Big Mama, Woody, and Muddy, I would consider the following to be in the running: Chuck Berry Little Richard Elvis Bob Dylan The Beatles The Rolling Stones The Who Led Zeppelin Stevie Wonder I think Buddy Holly belongs in the group, but unfortunately, he did not have a long career. Key Technical Innovator award goes to Les Paul. The next tier includes but is not limited to: Nirvana Springsteen Beach Boys Hendrix Pink Floyd Prince The Clash Ray Charles Bowie Queen Michael Jackson Clapton Aretha Beach Boys The Kinks Simon (& Garfunkel) Lou Reed U2 REM Sly and the Family Stone Grandmaster Flash Fleetwood Mac
Taylor Swift 1989 came out in 2014, the Beatles entire run would fit between now and then. Gotta dock points for longevity.... but then again they were so huge, does it matter...?
It's funny, I don't love their music -- it doesn't hit me where my favorite music does -- but I totally appreciate their songwriting and performance and the final mix of the band being much greater than the sum of its parts.
I didn't even consider them before, but using these criteria, you could also make the case that The Ramones belong in. your list.
